Russian Spy Has Confessed, Authorities Say

Posted on Jul 1, 2010

Federal prosecutors claimed Thursday that one of the alleged Russian spies confessed to working for the Russian foreign intelligence service. Uncle Sam is trying to keep the accused in custody, fearing they might otherwise try to flee, armed no doubt with bullet pens, microdots and perhaps even a briefcase jetpack.

Seriously, though, this spy story just gets more and more depressing. The reports of the teenage children of these alleged agents waving in the courtroom demand an Oprah-produced Lifetime drama.

The New York Times:

In a long statement given to investigators after his arrest, Mr. Lazaro admitted that “Lazaro” was not his true name, and that the Yonkers house where he and another of the suspects live was paid for by the “Service,” a reference to the S.V.R. in Moscow.

Mr. Lazaro also said that his wife, Vicky Pelaez, a journalist for a Spanish-language newspaper in New York who was also charged in the case, “had delivered letters to the service on his behalf,” prosecutors said.

Mr. Lazaro, a former professor at Baruch College who has a 17-year-old son with Ms. Pelaez, told the authorities that although he “loved his son, he would not violate his loyalty to the service even for his son.”